Firing Range
Firing Range is a small multiplayer map featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops set in a military practice facility. Overview Firing Range mostly favors close range to medium range combat with Submachine guns, Assault Rifles, and Light Machine Guns being the best to use. If one is defending a building, then shotguns can prove useful. There are two main buildings either team will look to control with a small tower in the middle of the map. The thin-wooden house is hotly contested among either teams while the tower makes a great camping spot. The two teams spawn dangerously close to each other with a well placed grenade able to sneak a kill. Claymores are highly recommended here for a defensive player as they will be constantly rushed by the other team if found. It is not recommended to rush the other team as automatic fire will result in quick death. Snipers are very uncommon here for obvious reasons. Flak Jacket is recommended during domination games because of the open and close quarters nature of this map lends itself to a lot of explosions and chaotic Domination and Demolition games. Tips *Use the wooden tower in the middle of the map. It provides an excellent sight-line to both team's spawns and it is crucial in objective based game modes, and it can be easily defended. Players must remember that it is made of wood, and thus bullets penetrate very easily allowing easy revenge kills. Grenades are also useful, as there is not enough room to move around and players inside often will die from the explosion or jump out to escape it, only to fall to their death (unless they have the Lightweight Pro perk), although this can be remedied by Flak Jacket. If you get killed when climbing up this tower by a ladder, it is possible for your corpse to get hung on the ladder, however if you are killed at the top of the ladder by a cleverly place claymore or timed explosive, it is likely your body will fly off and land on the ground a few feet away. If you and your team are outnumbered and losing, it is recommended to fall back to this building, as more people inside, although being a larger target for explosives, can easily take down the one or two people attempting entry by the ladder. *It is not advisable to run into the middle of the map, as the other team will almost always be waiting for you, resulting in a quick death. *When playing Domination, a good place to snipe is in the trailer, at the entrance closest to flag A. This affords a view of the center, allowing cover of flag B itself, the upper level of the building near flag A, the sniper tower, and the mechanic's shop upper levels. A prone, L96A1-variable zoom wielding sniper covered by some carefully placed claymores can rack up serious killstreaks as players hastily rush to capture B. Players in the trailer itself will often miss you in the shadows, allowing for easy kills. *When playing Domination it is easy to get spawn trapped at Point C because the spawning is very controlled and due to few routes to flank, you must either run out into the open or go through a small tunnel risking the chance of an opponent getting multi-kills. *When placing a sentry gun a good and common place to put it is on a building with an opening near the tall tower mentioned previously. This can kill people on the tower, as well as people on the ground below the tower. *In the maze of tires, there is a small spot where one can lie down and ambush passersby. *The building next to the tower is often a camping spot, especially in Gun Game, as players can camp by the stairs and get easy kills. *Even though not many players are around the small maze with tires stacked really high, players will camp or place claymores in this area which can surprise unaware players. *A trick is to put a claymore next to the car downstairs in the central building, but angle it so the explosion hits the car but could be detected if someone ran up the stairs, as the car will blow up and kill everyone downstairs and on the stairs. This may take a bit of practice to get the right angle. *This trick can also be used on the car outside by the hollow crate, on the right side of the car (When standing behind it) *Be careful when going up into the guard tower or upstairs of the building, as snipers are likely up there, and more often than not they have a claymore on top of the ladder/stairs. *Camping in the watch tower on Sharpshooter is a good idea, as many player will run by it and not look up at it. However, camping there too long may be unwise because the opponents may look at their KillCam and find the player and because it is a common camping spot among many players. *Although this map has very good "camping" spots, they are be easily found. Guns with a fast fire rate can stop an enemy from attacking you and your allies at your camping spot, however be aware that most of these "camping" spots are small, and fragmentation grenades and Semtex can kill almost everyone in the camping spot if thrown correctly and precisely. *Although the metal building and the sniping post in the middle of the map are two of the most used camping spots, there are others. One is in the building across from the sniping post. Just get to the edge and crouch. This camping spot is recommended for players with sub-machine guns and light machine guns. Another is a building next to the sniping post. Most players will recognize this. Be aware that that camping spot is highly popular and possibly multiple enemies will come at once, so make sure to plant a Claymore or Motion Sensor. This camping spot should be used by longer ranged gun classes. Lastly there is a spot right next to the sniping post. There are two ways to get here, although one gives you damage. One is too climb into the sniping post and jump off the other end. The other way is too ignore the ladder and pass through those metals walls and then turn left. There should be beanbags and an open space. You can jump onto this open space. Once you are on, the best choice is too go prone or crouch. Crouch will give a chance to move around, however you are exposed more. In prone you aren't exposed as much however you can't move around as much. Not many players have seen this camping spot. Note that this hiding spot should not be used by snipers or shotguns, due to its medium range. High fire rated guns should be used in this spot. *In the container right before the maze there is a hole for campers. *If you summon a crate for a killstreak in the tower, it is advised to throw the smoke grenade in a corner, and to retrieve it you simply need to stand up on the containment wall and the prompt will appear. *Usually, Flag A and Flag C in domination are near respawn areas on maps and are therefore easy to capture without getting killed, however on the Firing Range Flag C in particular is also very open like Flag B and therefore defense is important on both B and C. *If you are in the lead on domination with two flags captured, it is advisable to defend from either the open roof near the building above Flag A or the closed roof in the building next to Flag C. This depends on which two flags you have captured for example there will be no use standing in the Flag C building if you don't have the C flag captured. Anyhow, by doing this both buildings have an excellent view of Flag B to kill off the losing team trying to capture it, and also an excellent view of the captured Flag A or C behind you. *There is a lot of cars and vans that can be blown up, which are useful for killing. Good places where cars are located are just next to the B flag, the bottom floor of the central building and there is one located next to the C flag, along with many others dotted around the map. *When entering a building watch out for claymores. Trivia *Outside the entrance to the range, to the north, is a line of Quonset huts with a dirt helipad. On the Helipad is a UH-1B 'Huey' Iroquois 'slick', blades slowly idling. It has been in-field modified to have pintles on each side hatch mounting dual-mated M60Ds. This perpendicular mounting was intended for troops in the main compartment to man and fire for ground support, a-la Chopper Gunner rather than pointing forwards and being fired by the pilots' controls in the cockpit as a main offensive armament of the helicopter itself, another common configuration for x4 M60s added to a Huey. This particular airframe happens to be a clone, borrowed from the Campaign mission S.O.G. It is the one that drops off Frank Woods in the opening cut-scene. It also happens to fit well in Firing Range as there are a few hints scattered around the map alluding to U.S. Army Air Cavalry, main users of the Bell UH-1. The model in this map, however, still sports the general MARINES livery and specific SOG markings from the Campaign mission. *The area containing the Huey seems to be separate from the killhouse and used by the U.S.M.C. Details pointing to this are the MARINES livery on the Huey, the Corps-type cargo trucks, and the large USMC painted sign on the fitness course that can only be seen standing at the absolute north entrance of the map. *Outside the map is a runway full of F4 Phantoms. This syncs with the signs posted everywhere around the map that read 'MATOU 62 AIRFIELD OPERATIONS'. The Phantoms are parked and appear to not be in use, however each has a motionless crew of pilot and nav officer, doubtless because they are merely copies of the F4 that deliver the Napalm Strike Killstreak. *There are many bulk crates of '384 CARTRIDGE CAL .30' or 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition stacked high in different parts of the map. Spent casings and a few unfired rounds, evidence of their contents, are also scattered in various places all over the ground. If you check the headstamp on the bottom of one of these cartridges, instead of '7.62x51 - OLIN' or something more expected, they read 'TANK DEMPSEY', as a reference to the Nazi Zombies USMC Character. *Adjacent to Building 3, the shop containing the Jeep and the MW2 Tactical, there is a small, red storage shed. 'NEXT TIME BRING BEER' is hand painted or sprayed on the wall outside. *Outside of the map, there is a hidden sign stating "Gateway to Hell, You are entering Quarantaine"(sic) written in blood. The 'Quarantaine' strip from the sign can also be seen hung on a stall door in the showers. *On the "Gateway to Hell" sign outside of the map, the name Mike Curran is written, who was the director of the NOVA Workforce Board. His name is also found on the books similar to the Richtofen books. His website is found here: http://www.jointventure.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=219 *There are numerous putt-putt-like light blue flags throughout the map. They are borrowed from the Pack-a-Punch machine. *Inside the car shop, Building 3, there is a civil pickup truck jacked up and being worked on. It is a Technical, borrowed directly from Modern Warfare 2, but without any MG mounted on the pintle in the bed. *Up on a bunch of boards in the roof of Building 3, the car shop, there is a bloody teddy from Nazi Zombies. It is directly above the Technical and the winch that holds it. *Nintendo Wii users cannot drop down into the cabins of the black Special Forces Jeeps. *The southernmost building, a shack stand serving as an actual firing range, there is a benchrest covered in spent casings and splattered with blood. Shooting the blood stain causes the table to splatter and 'bleed' MORE blood, as if it was possessed, or alive. This was something missed in programming the game. *The existence of 'Firing Range' was confirmed during a Treyarch interview."GameSpot Presents: Now Playing - Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer" Retrieved on 11-2-10. Firing Range is classified as a "small-medium" map, and can be compared to the Call of Duty 4 map "Killhouse" due to its size and the fact that its purpose is military training. This map can actually be used as a "practice range" in private matches, as there are many moving and static targets which can be shot. This is a good way for new players to train due to the large count of dummies and targets, though ultimately, it is a poor substitute for Combat Training matches. *Despite being named 'Firing Range,' and containing two actual ad-hoc improvised ranges, the playable area of the map could better be described as a 'killhouse,' or live-fire, close quarters, room-to-room combat simulation arena. That COD games rarely re-use the same name or title for anything twice, and that 'firing range' follows the shorthand catchy names of the other multiplayer maps might help explain why this map wasn't also named Killhouse as well. *While an unending plethora of details prove Firing Range is a U.S. Military training base, it is clearly NOT intended for regular, rank and file 'white' troops. The rough, hackneyed appearance and layout show it was built, maintained, and used purely by elite 'black' troops. The extremely unsafe location and storage of explosive items and vehicles, the lack of any separation from 'live fire' areas and 'safe' areas, the unregulated direction of the two actual ranges, one over a road blocked by a single concrete barricade, and the plethora of targets in every direction all directly contradict the strict and absolute safety operating protocols in place at all 'normal' military practice ranges. That numerous inappropriate improvised signs ('Gateway to Hell', 'Next Time Bring Beer', etc.), the phony quarantine, trashed condition, lax storage, and the fact the entire killhouse area is crudely partitioned off from the rest of the base reinforces that the killhouse area is, indeed, the private domain of 'black' or deniable units. *The famous 'RESTRICTED- SECURITY ACT OF 1950' signs found in a few places in Firing Range are usually only posted at classified installations like Area 51, or installations for intelligence or deniable operations. *The implied location of Firing Range is in dispute. As a 'black' facility neither the game or the level itself spell it out. One common theory is Cuba, specifically in or around the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, as the lease (contested by the Revolutionary Gov. & Castro as invalid) charted from Cuba in 1903 makes the outpost the only area of Cuba not under hostile control since the Cuban Revolution, thus during the time period of the game. The terrain, flora, topographic features, general look and geographic layout support this assertion, as does the 'elite', that is, non-regular nature of the usable killhouse area. The layout of Firing Range matches the layout of the Leeward Point airstrip, however the compass orientation, topographical location and orientation (considering the ocean and mountains) exactly matches McCalla Field across the bay. McCalla, due to it's 'unused' designation, would make more sense as a location for a black ops training ground, especially one with a phony 'quarantine' to keep out 'regular' personnel and Cuban base employees. References Category:Maps